Accidentally on Purpose
by Sakubato
Summary: It had been an Accident, a mistake. So why can't Hermione stop thinking about the kiss? And what does it mean for her friendship with Harry?


Hermione couldn't keep from fidgeting as she looked worriedly around the party, desperately hoping no one noticed her unease. _It wasn't fair she thought_, grumbling to herself as she vainly tried not to look at Harry, which only meant she kept looking at Harry. _It was just a kiss_ she justified to herself, but knew it wasn't true.

It had happened over a month ago, as they were leaving the Hogwarts Express for the summer. Like almost every summer they had hugged goodbye, nothing new there. But then she'd gone to kiss his cheek, an endearment to remind him he still had her and his other friends despite what had happened. He'd turned to say something to her, and instead of his cheek, her lips had found his. It hadn't been intentional. They hadn't meant to do it. But god she wished they had. It wasn't the earth shattering, mind blowing, toe curling kiss she'd read about in her mother's Harlequin romance novels, but there was just something…. something _magical _about that kiss.

And now she couldn't stop thinking about it… or him. For the last month, she had turned it over and over in her head. _How had he felt about it, did he think about her that way, could their friendship survive it? _ She'd actually scared her mother with the seriousness of her consideration when she'd cornered her being mental over a boy. She had to admit though, imagining how it would feel to walk down the aisle towards him after just a kiss was a bit much.

Now she had to act normal at his birthday party. It was nice, especially with Sirius being a big kid around everyone, but lord it was hard. It was hard seeing him grin at Ron being super excited over some Quidditch fact, or blushing when Ginny kept offering him snacks he didn't want. Speaking of blushing, she wasn't sure if she ever wanted to know what Luna had told him to turn him that shade of red.

It was nice to see him smiling though. As much as he'd gone through this year, as much as he had to still be hurting, if he could smile there was hope. So much pain had visited him, so much worry. She just wished he didn't keep it bottled up, that he'd let her in to help. But no, the noble idiot thought he was protecting her, keeping her safe by keeping her away…

"Hermione?"

She jolted up, startled to hear his voice cutting into her thoughts. He stood in front of her, looking at her in an odd way; not condemning her for finding a quiet corner, but still worried. There was something else there too, something… something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Can we talk for a bit?" He asked her, nervousness seeping into his voice, "Alone?"

"Sure Harry," she said quickly, following him from the room. _What could it be?_ She wondered. _Had he found out something? Had something bad happened?_ She kept thinking of various scenarios and how she could help him, how she could make him less worried.

They ended up in the Library, and it was a sign of her dedication that she didn't wander over to the shelves of ancient tomes, but stayed focused on him. He fidgeted himself, obviously not sure what to say. Then it hit her. He was upset about the kiss, it didn't mean to him what it did to her and he was trying to tell her. He didn't feel for her what she did for him.

"I'm sorry Harry," She burst out, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm sorry I kissed you, you must have thought it was silly and…"

"No," The one word cut off her rant, and realizing she'd just mentioned what had become taboo to them; she suddenly found her toes extremely fascinating. It was so interesting how the stitches of her shoes seemed to loop out of nowhere; how did they get them to stitch like that? Then, there was the shapes they cut the panels into, why those shapes?

"Hermione," Harry's voice was full of care and concern, of hope and… love? His hand found the side of her face, his thumb brushing lightly over her cheek as he guided her head up to face him. "I think that kiss was brilliant, and I think I'm falling in love with you."

Hermione's mind lurched. _What had he said? Did he mean it? What about… _Then she stopped thinking at all as his lips found hers once more, this time completely on purpose. This kiss, unlike the quick peck of the train station, did things to her as she returned the kiss. Fireworks exploded in her head as she felt her insides start doing cartwheels of joy. Her arms slipped around his neck as his fingers slid back to tangle in her hair, his other arm coming around her to hold her tight as she pressed against him.

They never really figured out how long they stood there, kissing and letting their instincts play. She felt fire follow his fingers as they played at the hem of her shirt, teasing it up just enough to allow his hands to find her skin beneath. She knew she moaned just before the door swung open and Sirius interrupted the single most magical moment of her life up to that point.

"Harry, I'm getting ready to order some pizza," The dark haired man said, writing something of a pad of paper, "I was wondering…. Oh…. Hi Hermione…. I just… You're obviously busy…. I'll just go and order the pizza and leave you two to continue…" The man quickly backed out, his wand whipping out to cast a silencing and a locking charm before he made it all the way out of the room, grinning evilly as he did.

Silence reigned in the library for a trio of heartbeats before the pair burst into laughter. Harry held her close as they both shook at the absurdity of Sirius, animagus, escapee of Azkaban, terror of Grimauld Place, embarrassed by catching them kissing… well snogging really.

"You know he's not going to let this go, right?" Harry asked softly once he could speak again.

"I'm not either," She said snuggling into his arms. "It may have been an accidental first kiss, but after that last kiss, you'd better believe I'm not letting you go."

"Me either," He said as he kissed the top of her head, "Me either."

"We'll have to face everyone sometime, you know," She informed him, "You are the birthday boy after all."

"Best birthday ever." He agreed.

"And that Kids," Hermione Jean Potter, Deputy Minister for Magic and mother of 4, told her children, "Was the first time your father told me he loved me. And why he always gets a really goofy grin whenever it's his birthday."


End file.
